Best One-Shot Antagonist or Monster (Season 4)
I'm posting this early because I am experiencing computer problems and I don't want to the internet to go down again before I can get this up. Today we vote for season 4's best antagonist or monster. Yes, we have two entries that may cause concern because they are monsters played by recurring actors. They would be the ghost of Meg Masters and the ghoul shaped like Adam Milligan. The good news is they are the last and next week's poll is definitely more clear-cut.
You can still vote for season two and season three. And as always, comments make the world go round. At least my never-ending hiatus, internet-happy world.
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Discounting Adam and Meg because of my vow not to vote for one-shot monsters played by recurring actors, I am also taking Dirk, Lizzie, Lizzie's bro, and Luther off my list because they didn't do much for me. Lizzie's family was creepy yes, but I call Family Remains - The Benders 2 because they overlap to me. I just felt sorry for Dirk and Luther. Samhain was awesome but the guy was a freaking seal; he shouldn't have been so easy to take down. Jack gets bonus points for being an original monster and for tying into the brothers' existential crisis du jour. He was sympathetic but mostly gross, so no rugaru for me.
ReplyDeleteThat leaves Dracula and Nick, both of whom I would vote for in a second. Dracula was the most complete character and probably the monster with the best back story for this season. Besides he was so unintentionally funny and bizarrely pathetic that I loved him. Nick was in my opinion the best new twist on an old story. I had never heard of sirens appearing as males and I loved how it removed the story from lust and into filling the gaps in a failing relationship. It was clever and even if you saw the twist from a mile away, props to the writers for taking an old legend and making it relevant for today.
That was actually hard. I liked Nick Munroe, the siren angle was, IMO, a great one and having him give Dean what he wanted -- not a woman but a little brother that looked up to him again -- was brilliant. O also like Jack Montgomery. He was a well flushed out character and I thought he made a creepy monster. When he chowed down on Travis, I stopped feeling bad for him and started to hope he got ganked, but he still was sympathetic since his situation wasn't his fault. But, in the end I had to go with the shapeshifter from Monster Movie. Becoming Dracula, the Werewolf, the Mummy... not to mention the creepiest incarnation, the barmaid... made him above and beyond your ordinary monster. And he was just a freak trying to find a way to get by. Sad. And he dressed Dean in lederhosen... how evil is that?
ReplyDeleteJack Montgomery. When he reached down to tasted Dean's blood while he lay there unconscious still touches my gag reflex.
ReplyDeleteThe Adam Ghoul was so harsh and unexpected.
ReplyDeleteMeg Masters...we finally saw her... sans the demon...One of my favorite moments in the series...
Dracula was hilarious and yet endearing...
Samhain was AWESOME "Your beauty is timeless...." *SNAP*...."Whore." Don Harding did a brilliant job.
Lizzie's brother completely took me by surprise. I rewatched it again the other day and had forgotten completely about him...(The whole episode I was like "this bitch is moving too fast to be alive, what the hell?")
Jack as the Rugaru was perfect in my opinion. It was a great rhetorical look at not choosing to become something evil and even people with the right intentions still end up with the bloody hands...the gore factor only sealed the deal for me.
Nick, the Siren was also a perfect symbolic tie-in to the overarching story and a good twist.
I'm gonna have to go with not voting on this one. NOT FAIR. I should be able to vote on ALL of the choices.
No, but really I have to think on this one...
...you counted out the rugaru because...he was gross?
ReplyDeleteI mean, sheesh, that's an odd thing to discount someone for in a contest about "best one-shot MONSTER" and all...
Not at all my whole reason to discount him, but I was trying to be more concise. Basically, I hated the whole episode, partly because I choose action. What I remember most about Jack was that he added to the whine, which was not in short supply from the Winchesters already. The two words I would use to describe the episode are mopey and gross. I understand that he was a symbol of what Sam might become but we had already gone down that road in season 2. In fact, I think the whole episode would have fit there better. Of course, this is just what I remember. Generally when I watch season 4 I skip this episode.
ReplyDeleteOK I am eliminating some choices:
ReplyDeleteI can get on the wagon of ridding the recurring actors, but with a HUGE asterisk: Meg (The REAL Meg) showing up, for me at least, is one of my favorite aspects of season 4 and I'd vote for her over anything else, honestly if she weren't recurring...
So, the Ghoul, and the RisingoftheMEG are out...
Lizzie's brother was a twist that made the episode, but not compared to the rest of the choices...so He's out.
I still love the Dracula shapeshifter, and Monster Movie is a great episode, but it's almost forgettable compared to these other choices...He's out...(if only barely...)
It really pains me to say this, but Samhain's out too...He never really lived up to the hype 100% (I wanted to see a massacre...but hey, I'm kinda weird like that, I suppose...)
That leaves Nick and Jack...Such a hard decision...
OK
ROUND 1 -- THE LOOK
-Jack looked normal for the most part, but as he transformed, he became a ravenous wretch...BUT he was still human-looking.
-Nick wore several faces (Jasmine, etc.) but looked decidedly normal and unassuming, until you saw his....its face in a mirror. Definitely one of the coolest-looking monsters on SPN...
NICK wins round 1.
ROUND 2 -- THE STORY
-In Sex & Violence, the story was seemingly standalone until it brought Dean taking an ax to Sam's throat. (Thanks for the timing, Bobby!) Throughout the episode, viewers could see the tension building, but in a way it was indecipherable...until the Siren twisted its M.O. to be slightly more platonic and had Sam and Dean bravely defending the brother they never had. (Well, even if they had no control over it...) Tragic, no?
-In Metamorphosis, we get an increasingly depressing story about a hunter and his ties to the Montgomery family...most notably his tracking down and murdering what was at one point an innocent man, and through a twist that lead to the current circumstance, also a father. The brothers were forced to watch a normal, innocent man painfully succumb to his genetic destiny, all the while Sam was staving off Dean's attempts to discuss his own looming freakish destiny. Sam wanted so desperately to save Jack, in a way to prove to Dean, and also (most of all) himself that even those stricken with baneful destinies can overcome their problems and be...normal. These ideas crashed all around Sam as he ended up having to kill Jack himself. Worst I-told-you-so ever. :(
I don't even know what to call this one... I suppose NICK wins this round as well, if only for stronger relevance to the storyline.
ROUND 3 -- THE GORE/ICK/MONSTER FACTOR
-Jack was cramming anything red and raw into his mouth. He broke a man's hand and the BONE STUCK OUT...later he completely devoured an entire man, leaving a wide trail of blood and some stomach-churning leftovers... His transformed form wasn't exactly a pretty sight either.
-Sex & Violence had less gore and more suspense, it seemed. The opening scene was brutal, and very bloody, but the worst part (for me) was hearing (not seeing, thankfully) that young man beating his disabled mother to death...And to see the siren in action on this man...that writhing skeletal-demonic body humping... UGHGHHHHHHHH
This one is a tie....
HOWEVER, it seems NICK wins.
I loved the male siren angle... giving Dean the "little brother that looks up to him" instead of a girl. I can see how Dean might kill Sammy for this new brother's love and devotion. Now, I have a question... maybe because I haven't watched this episode lately and just can't remember. Why was Sam willing to kill Dean for Nick? What 'missing piece' was Nick supposed to be fulfilling for Sam?
ReplyDeleteI voted for Nick just because even after watching it again I still can't believe it. It was just brilliant to have the siren as basically what Dean wanted. You'd expect it would be some chick, but then to have it be a guy in the end was just awesome! It's one of those awesome red herrings. I loved it! lol But then there's Samhain, and that dude just freaked me out period. *shivers* Yet another unfriendly person that had me hiding. But I voted for Nick.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna just ignore the ones I'm not interested in voting for....anyone wants to know why just ask, but I've been painting all day and I'm knackered so I'll keep it brief (yeah I know - for once)
ReplyDeleteMy narrowed down choices are:
Adam because I didn't twig that he was a monster until the reveal.
Drac because I love shifters - and as Sue said - he put Dean in lederhosen
Nick because again, I didn't twig till the reveal, and awesome misuse of the myth SPN writers.
Back later when I've had a wine or two and a chance to think.
Well, I guess I just overall disagree with you on this one.
ReplyDeleteAnd trust me...I really hate the whiny bitchy stuff too.
Dracula all the way.
ReplyDelete'Nuff said, case closed, let's all go get pie.
Don't trust him. He's not a doctor.
ReplyDeleteAnd we should trust you to tell us not to trust him?
ReplyDeleteHow long has that pie been sitting there because I am totally not trusting the stuff in Bobby's fridge anymore? Not even for pie.
ReplyDeleteMeg Masters is probably a popular choice. My vote goes for Meg and Nick Munroe.
ReplyDeleteYes. I'm quite upfront about being a douchey liar.
ReplyDeletePie is always worth it.
ReplyDeleteUnless it's "American Pie" by Madonna... in which case, turn it off immediately.
Soooo many questions...
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of wine?
Remember, this show doesn't always give us Sam's motivations... they try to show us what is happening with Sam by showing us Dean's reactions. Sam talked about Dean's whining and that Sam was stronger, but he never really said what he was looking for in the perfect brother...
ReplyDeleteWhat ever I can lay my hands on - care to join me?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that Meg wins based on past polls. Although, as much as I loved real Meg in this episode, I hope someone else wins.
ReplyDeleteSorry, lav. I'm about to head out for a Hawaiian New Years. Cocktails and hula skirts. Couldn't ask for anything else.
ReplyDeleteWell I've decided I can't vote for Adam - in the end it came down to the fact that he was just irritating, and I can't vote for irritating.
ReplyDeleteSo Drac and Nick. Nick and Drac.
Drac was a shifter and I do love shifters.....and lederhosen? My lordoftherings that was just nasty....
And being a shifter means he could have been or done pretty much anything - but he ended up just pathetic....whereas Nick? He was just being himself - doing what a siren does.....
Ya know Dean keeps on being shown a glimpse of a great life only to have it come crashing down.....
What is and What Should Never Be and the djinn, Sex and Violence and the perfect brother, and Exile on Main Street and Lisa and Ben.....kinda sucks you know? But that's how it is on SPN....
So I'm voting for Nick - as I said earlier - awesome misuse of the myth.
A Hawaiian new years? In Australia? What about all that disgusting - er...I mean delightful - Aussie wine?
ReplyDeleteOh, I have the goon. It'll be poured into coconuts to numb - er... I mean, exaggerate the wonderful homegrown flavour.
ReplyDeleteJACK MONTGOMERY! I don't know why exactly but GOSH i love him sooooo much, right from the beggining of the ep
ReplyDeleteomg, it's one of my FAV episode. You have to watch it again. HAVE TOO!
ReplyDeleteNick has 3 and Jack has 1.. :P
ReplyDeleteAdam Milligan irritating. Could not agree more. And he did not improve on acquaintance. I hope we've seen the end of him.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget Sam having the life he dreamed of only to see Jess flambéed on the ceiling. SPN has been messing with them since the beginning. I think that's why I root for them so much. They get screwed more than the cast of Jersey Shore.
I love love love the Dracula/shapeshifter from Monster Movie. Nick Monroe was awesome as well but nothing beats the hilariousness of dracula ordering a pizza, monologuing and escaping on a vespa. Lol
ReplyDeleteLizzie from Family Remains. Thats the episode that stands out most vividly from my mind. Also, I couldn't sleep that night after watching that episode. The scariest thing about it was that she wasn't even a monster, she was human. Well.... partly human anyway...
ReplyDeleteI voted for Luther Garland because monsters don't always have to be evil or gross. It's this kind of characters and plot lines that make the show more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't decide between Dracula and Lizzie. Dracula was probably my favourite shapeshifter of the series, so original, so creative ;P he was hilarious, yet kind of pathetic in a sad way. "The girl from the walls", however, was really scary, it was a horror like episode with season 1 feeling about it, which I loved! the reveal she was a human and the story of her life were so unexpected and sad that just like Dean, "I felt for those sons of bitches". I love it how it made you think about Dean and what he did and wonder: who is the monster here anyway? They were faaar from the Benders, because the Benders were killing for fun, for the pure pleasure, ehm, like Dean in hell? But those wall kids, like the brothers said, were barely human, animals defending their teritory. I went with Lizzie in the end, cause there is more depth to this story than to the shapeshifter's, although I love my Dracula to pieces :)
ReplyDeleteThe others of the season were pretty amazing too, like Nick (great idea) and Samhain. I wouldn't vote for Meg, cause, come on, she wasn't even the main monster of the episode. She was there for what? like 5 minutes? I loved it that they brought the real Meg in, but she didn't get enough screen time to get my vote.
I finally went with the popular choice in Dracula. He was funny as hell, rode a motorbike, and carries pizza coupons with him. But I didn't choose him just for the comic relief - I actually felt sorry for him. He was an exile all his life, was beaten and almost killed, and became a monster because of it. It was really sad when he died. He didn't deserve it.
ReplyDeleteAfter debating for a while between Dracula and Nick. I have to go with Dracula (Shapeshifter). I loved the twist of the male siren, it would be my 2nd place. The Monster Movie was such a great episode in my opinion. It was filmed in black and white which brings back memories of watching old horror films as a teenager. The shapeshifter portrayed 3 (if I remember correctly) classic monsters: Dracula, Werewolf, and the Mummy. He even tried to turn Dean into Frankenstein. I kinda felt sorry for this shapeshifter for a while. He was lonely and a freak and just trying to fit in somehow. But then .... he did kill people so .....
ReplyDeleteI voted for Dracula. I just loved him...must be heritage ;)
ReplyDeleteThis was the hardest one yet, imho, to decide on because there were so many that were great choices. I ended up going with Dracula, because he was just too awesome NOT to vote him as the best. :)
ReplyDeleteI went with Dracula, partially because I'm a sucker for a sympathetic monster, and partially because I really, really enjoyed that episode, it's one of my favourites in Season 4.
ReplyDeleteI made a Baked Alaskan Pie and I'm wiling to share.... I've never 'baked' ice cream before... but it looks pretty. :)
ReplyDeleteI once baked Ice Cream.
ReplyDeleteWELL. I left it outside in the sun.
Probably didn't taste as nice as yours.
i think they fixed that with the last episode, with death saying that he can only get one of sam's or adam's soul.
ReplyDeletepoor adam, stuck in hell forever
It was surprisingly scrumptious. :) I'd send you a piece, but I doubt it would survive the trip. Try baking in the oven covered in meringue... it's works a lot better than solar power in this instance.
ReplyDelete